tea herbs

Re: tea herbs

Fri Apr 01, 2016 12:34 pm

Have you done the wisteria blossom jelly before? I was recently asked by someone who keeps horses if wisteria is as "very toxic" to horses as she had heard. I looked around and found vague mentions (this is what I wrote to her) :

I didn't know that, so I looked it up -- in many articles, it's not listed among the most poisonous to horses but is mentioned in passing. ASPCA lists it as toxic to cats, dogs, and horses without much detail except diarrhea, vomiting and depression as symptoms.

This one was most informative about other plants, but only mentions wisteria seeds and pods as harmful to horses. I can't tell if this "ornamentals" page at the end of the article where wisteria is mentioned is part of the "Mechanical Injury" subsection.https://extension.umd.edu/sites/default ... 204-14.pdf

...It was annoying not to be able to tell if the "mechanical injury" from the seeds and pods could be the cause for the "depression" mentioned in the ASPCA article -- in other words, listless.

I still don't know if there are actual, toxic compounds in wisteria, but I thought I would mention it just in case?

My redbud flower buds are is just starting to swell. Thanks for the reminder.

Learning never ends because we can share what we've learned. And in sharing our collective experiences, we gain deeper understanding of what we learned.

Re: tea herbs

Mon Dec 04, 2017 10:40 pm

Lemon leaf as tea flavor herb —

I admit it — I’m a bit of a tea snob. I like having a selection of teas to choose from depending on my mood or what I‘m eating for a meal. Let’s see, I currently have Irish breakfast, organic Darjeeling, and an organic black tea blend as well as organic oolong... and for green tea, I have organic jasmine green, roasted green (houjicha), sencha, bancha, and genmaicha, as well as a genmaicha-matcha blend.

One black tea I haven’t bought in some time is earl grey, which used to be one of my favorites. But now, I use a freshly plucked lemon leaf, rolled and bruised and steeped with a black tea blend

I’m drinking some now plucked from this rather struggling specimen. It needs to be uppotted since there are three seedlings grown from “Trader Joe’s Lemon from Mexico” — I think it was a Eureka variety. I don’t know if they will ever bloom and fruit, but in the mean time, the lemony fragrant leaves provide another use.

Learning never ends because we can share what we've learned. And in sharing our collective experiences, we gain deeper understanding of what we learned.

Re: tea herbs

Tue Dec 05, 2017 11:32 am

The Original Post mentioned a liking for tea that is "full of flavor and not water ..." That's me, a glass of water will go ignored just by accident. On the other hand, I treat myself with tea, herbal teas and coffee. The neighbors have probably come to ignore my activities outdoors, "oh, there goes a cup ... with Steve carrying it somewhere."

An early-to-bed early-riser, it's 3am and I have been up for 2 hours. Maybe caffeine encouraged me to wake up that early after showering and being in bed by 9pm. I doubt if it's caffeine altho I drank a good deal of oolong yesterday as I slowly came to realize that I have come down with a cold.

DS was here for several days and just left Sunday. He was losing his voice by the weekend and I think that he returned to work with a cold yesterday after leaving some pathogens here at his dad's house . .! I haven't had a respiratory infection for several years but the dry summer months and smoke from wildfires must have really set me up for this.

I'm not looking for an herbal cure but having a cup of licorice tea with some Tylenol right now. Congestion over the few hours that I was asleep, a likely touch of fever, and dehydration means that I had better be drinking a good deal today. It can't be licorice altho I love it ... already feel the soothing effect.

Ginger will play a role and I'll have the cup of spearmint/chamomile at hand almost continuously, today.

I know that inactivity is a real enemy for this olde, retired guy. I've been out regularly for walks. It's mostly a comfort for my legs but, of course, the cardiovascular system is a primary concern. I have gardening through the summer and winter has to find me either tramping along or I'd better have the excuse and a snow shovel in my hands, at least part of the day. The weather is turning even drier and colder right now. I'd best be peering out thru sunglasses over a wool scarf when I'm outdoors, today. Yeah ... steaming cups of something to drink and moderate exercise seems best.

Re: tea herbs

Tue Dec 05, 2017 2:36 pm

One AM isn't early rising, it's the middle of the night. And 9PM to 1AM is only 4 hours sleep. Hopefully that's because you weren't feeling good, not a regular thing. I don't need as much sleep as many people, but I don't feel as good if I get less than six hours and definitely not if I get less than five. I keep reading more about the importance of sleep for health.

One AM is when I am usually going to be or thinking about going to bed.

Ginger and peppermint are good in herbal tea blends for colds and congestion. This is a nice article about herbal teas for colds and flu (if you are really sick, go to the doctor, these aren't meant to be instead of the doctor only along with!)

Re: tea herbs

Thu Feb 01, 2018 3:52 pm

I am not good at making tea from things I grow. My mint comes back every year but I can not make good tea with it. I grew hyssop several times it never made good tea either. I don't like green tea from the grocery store. I like Lipton ice tea if it is made right. When I lived up north I would never drink Lipton Ice tea northerners do not know how to make good tea they boil the tea that brings out the bitter tannin flavor. When I moved to TN I learned how to make good ice tea, put a tea bag in 150 degree water wait 10 minutes it is ready to drink, add sugar to suit your taste. Bitter flavor tannin comes out of all plants at about 180 degree so never boil your tea. I actually learned about tannin making wine 50 years ago but never learned about tannin in other plants until years later. If you would like to make better tasting coffee use 150 degree water, tannin tends to hide the good coffee flavor.

Re: tea herbs

Thu Feb 01, 2018 3:58 pm

You sound like my daughter. She says green tea and herbal teas all taste like grass. LOL

— mint ... different varieties have different flavors and aromas. Mint also cross pollinates easily (lots of pollinator activity like bees and wasps) so if you have a stand of mint, you may not have the original flavor you planted. I have peppermint, spearmint, spearmint cross (doesn’t look like spearmint should), and applemint.

- I like peppermint and applemint for hot tea. Good for digestion and to promote appetite.

- peppermint is also the one I use for anesthetic herbal treatments/herbal remedies, skincare products.

- Spearmint taste too much like gum and toothpaste to me when hot. But spearmint is “sweeter” and good for cold/iced tea. I believe mint julep was originally made with spearmint. Spearmint is also good for garnish and mint jelly, type use.

- I’m trying to obtain true mojito mint. I suspect this one will be better in cold drinks, too.

- I’m also trying to decide if I want to get chocolate mint. I can’t find out for certain if they are just a kind of peppermint with brown/purplish stem or some of them actually taste like chocolate. In photo’s the leaves seem more narrow/pointed/veined and shield-shaped like spearmint?

Learning never ends because we can share what we've learned. And in sharing our collective experiences, we gain deeper understanding of what we learned.

Re: tea herbs

Fri Feb 02, 2018 1:05 pm

I've grown chocolate mint before. It did smell a little chocolate-like. The leaves were smaller than spearmint, and some of them had the anthocyanins that made the stems dark rimming the leaves. The mint flavor was still there. My love affair with all things chocolate was already sated with other sources, so chocolate mint was relegated to idle memory.

Herbal teas to me were always "dirty water." I like the sensory complexity of coffee, but not commercial herbal tea in general. Chai is worth making and drinking, but chamomile is just not interesting.

This past year, I reintroduced myself to roselle tea, purported to aid recovery from heat exhaustion. It actually seemed to work better than simply cool water, enough so that I made a pitcher every day in August and September. I did not grow the Hibiscus sabdariffa, aka Florida cranberry or roselle. Also purchased Celestial Seasonings Zinger teas. The red color is from the roselle. Could not find Red Zinger flavor, the original, but was happy enough with a berry Zinger and a lemon Zinger as alternates to my Latin market sourced roselle.

I've used my lemon grass for teas and for cooking many times. Either plain or with green or black tea. Also use homegrown stevia for a sweeter taste.

Rosemary tea was supposed to be good for headaches. Not noticeably effective for me.

Re: tea herbs

Fri Feb 02, 2018 3:31 pm

chamomile tea by itself does nothing for me. But combine chamomile with lavender and mint! In general I like herbal tea blends, with several different herbs much better than just a mint tea or chamomile or whatever.

Re: tea herbs

Fri Feb 02, 2018 4:33 pm

That's a good point, RBG. The synergy of some ingredients is sometimes hard to anticipate. Like a touch of honey to a curry, a touch of mustard to mashed potatoes, lime to beer, cayenne and cocoa. Probably tons more. I'll just have to try some more tea mixtures.

My sister is buying these cute little jars and spoons with a tea blend inside, sometimes Camellia sinensis, sometimes not. When she went to drop a serious chunk of change for a jar of Herbes de Provence tea, I reminded her that she had the spice mix jar unopened at home. I suggested trying a tea from that before buying something so pricey. Now, months later, both jars sit forlorn and tightly sealed. She also was going to buy Crown Royal on sale two for one. I said, "But you don't do hard liquor!" She said, "I love those bags they come in though." We actually did grow up together, shared a room and everything.

Anyhow, I might raid her superfluous spices to see what I can come up with. She bought ingredients for a dry chai mix but hasn't used them. Why do we have two cardamom jars? Silly. One's for chai tea (sic).